


Economies of Affection

by belncaz



Category: Notice Me Senpai! (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, One Shot, Point of View, Slice of Life, kouhai-chan works hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 15:53:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10390323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/belncaz/pseuds/belncaz
Summary: Kouhai-chan is very busy with the cafe and wonders if it is worth it. In the end, she knows it is, because it's how she met him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Just a quick little pov-thing from the main character. Since she is generic, I’m keeping her name as “Kouhai” even though it’s an honorific. Insert your own name if you prefer, lol.

Economies of Affection

* * *

 

The till never lied. The senpai demonstrated whether they were pleased or upset with coins and gems, the numbers dispassionately indicating how she had fared for the day. Kouhai’s forehead wrinkled as she glanced down the list of receipts, noting who had enjoyed what items and at what rate of return. It just seemed that lately, they had all been a little less appreciative. Except for her boyfriend of course. He had remained supportive and it didn't matter how many times she saw that shy smile and blush, it was worth double whatever sales were recorded.

It was just that things had changed starting at Christmas. All of the senpai had seemed so determined to get her alone and confess, Kouhai had been quite flustered by all their attention. Once she had confessed her own feelings for just one of them though…the atmosphere had changed. She’d noticed some of the senpai still seemed determined to win her over, but many others had retreated to the sidelines. That was when the profits had started to decline and it frustrated her. Were they really only trying to buy her affections before? Her service had not slipped, and indeed, she prided herself on the level of care she provided each guest.

“Perhaps Suzuki-senpai is tired from his latest tour.” The charismatic idol had left only thirty-five coins for the beatbox, bypassing his favorite - the piano - altogether. He’d been hanging out with Jae-senpai more and more lately, the two of them working on choreographing routines. Sometimes Yamato-senpai joined them, but it wasn’t as frequent as the other two would like. Still, the piano was quite heavy and took up two places in the café. If he didn’t want it out anymore, Kouhai hoped Suzuki-senpai would have the courtesy to tell her.

Sighing, Kouhai worked on closing down the café for the day. All the senpai were interesting, and they usually thanked her for all her work, but she didn’t quite think they understood exactly how difficult it was. The owner had expanded the café twice since she had taken over, and now with fifteen tables and seemingly hundreds of different items and decorations for various themes in the storeroom – Kouhai was sometimes overwhelmed with trying to balance all their different preferred things to ensure she didn’t seem to be playing favorites.

It helped that some of them seemed to share particular choices. She didn’t know how she’d get along without the teddy bear, PC station, or guitar for instance, but she felt guilty when she set out something like the basketball – only Makoto-senpai cared about it. But seeing how excited he got, he’d even dribble it a little, meant it was hard to pass up. They all had their favorites, and seeing the quiet delight in their eyes meant she kept a carefully annotated spreadsheet to ensure she rotated things out with a regular, fair schedule.

Then there was all the coffee. Kouhai liked coffee well enough, but sometimes the senpai were a little too elitist. Did they really need mega-magic and mega-gourmet beans to deign to appear? At least the larger-capacity brewer had worked out well, usually lasting six hours if there wasn’t a rush. But when would that shipment of mega-golden beans appear? She couldn’t keep the 1-hour brew in stock yet it was surprisingly popular and the number of times she’d been gently reprimanded for failing to refill it were wearing down on her. Between the deliveries, the item rotations, and all the small errands she kept being recruited for, Kouhai was feeling in over her head. Not to mention her schoolwork was showing some signs of neglect, she kept waiting for the intense eyes of the teachers to catch her on a day when she’d only skimmed the reading.

As she walked back to the counter, she stumbled a little and had to catch herself against a table. Looking down, she saw with some annoyance someone had left the blanket on the floor rather than fold it up and her foot had caught on the edge. Stopping, she bent down and picked it up, giving the blue fabric with its bright print a forceful shake to ensure nothing else was hiding in it before briskly folding it and taking it to the laundry hamper. She had to ensure everything stayed clean and so she regularly washed all the blankets, pillows, and other fabric-encased items.  Both Ren-senpai and Yuu-senpai tended to forget to put the blanket up when they left, but she wasn’t ruling out Jean-senpai either. His playboy ways had improved since his confession, but he wasn’t an entirely new person either and sometimes he still pulled very inconsiderate stunts.

Still, as she remembered the cute pajama party they had all had when she’d debuted this blanket, Kouhai couldn’t stay mad at them. The senpai had been so entertained by all the snacks and toys – the pillow fort in particular had been popular – that getting to relive their childhood had been good for everyone. She’d been surprised by their willingness to show up in their pajamas, but something about the games, movies, cozy blankets, and even old toys that she’d acquired for the event had brought out their playful sides.  The pillow fights had started to get a little wild and it was only Touru-senpai’s firm scolding that they couldn’t expect Kouhai to clean up all the spilt feathers that had reigned them in. Remembering how grateful Takahiro-senpai had been for the spa set still brought a sense of triumph – he worked just as hard, if not harder, than she did. While Kouhai knew he didn’t like to admit that he too could get overwhelmed, his unrepentant dominance with the set as he’d soaked his feet had made it plain. Nobody really teased him about it, he had a well-deserved rest before returning to the gathering.

As she returned from putting the blanket in the hamper, Kouhai saw the PC Station was still on. Hideki-senpai and Seiichi-senpai had been working on schematics for some collaborative project. She’d been pleased by this as Seiichi-senpai seemed to need more friends. She stared at the screen for a moment before shaking her head. She wouldn’t risk losing their work so she hit the save button and simply set the machine to sleep mode rather than turning it completely off. With any luck, they would be back early enough in the morning to get anything they had not saved on their own drives.

A glimmer out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and turning, she saw the bush Kei-senpai used to hide in, he still did sometimes. He was so protective and old-fashioned, she smiled fondly when she remembered how long it had taken him to actually come into the café rather than stand guard outside, leaving extra gems for her but never speaking. Walking over to it, she was surprised to see one of the chess set pieces in the shrubbery. Izumi-senpai was usually far more careful. Frowning, she picked up the piece and brushed off a bit of dirt that clung to it. Looking around, she didn’t see any other strays and so returned the piece to the box where it waited for Izumi-senpai’s use. He didn’t get to play as often as he’d probably prefer. However, he had been very patient and Kouhai even won against him sometimes now, thanks to his careful tutoring with the rules.

She worked for a while longer rinsing extra tea sets and pitchers, before giving a tired stretch. She glanced down at her wrist, smiling at the charm bracelet there. Kouhai had been stunned that the senpai had given her such adorable, personalized charms for White Day. She twisted her wrist to admire it, stopping to smile softly at the most special one. While she had been worried about wearing all the charms together, the senpai had all reassured her that they understood. Many had said they simply took it as encouragement she cared for them at all. Her boyfriend though, he had covered his own charm with his index finger and smiled down at her, whispering his understanding.

“You are admired by many. I am proud of how your hard work and kindness has made this café so welcoming to everyone. Wear the charms to honor how much they value you. I know you are not the kind of girl to cheat, so I don’t want you to feel you can’t maintain friendships. You’re special for a reason, Kouhai-chan. I wouldn’t change that, or anything else about you.”

It filled her with warmth that he knew how she cared for all of them, but set him apart in her affections. Really, it was nearly unfair how many amazing young men were at this school, but she knew she had the best one. And as she closed up the café and left, it was reaffirmed as she saw him standing there, waiting for her with a smile he kept just for her in place. Things might get overwhelming, but it was fun, too. She wouldn’t trade it for anything.

**Author's Note:**

> Who's your favorite senpai?? ^.^  
> This game is so cute.


End file.
